Reloading: First Time

[richardlpalmer]

Well today was my first try at reloading. It happened to be with my son and we had a helluva good time with it.

A long-time reloader I know offers a little "class" going over the basic steps, then has you do each of them, ultimately having you load as much as you want to pay for. He supplied all of the equipment, supplies and supervised the operation. Felt good doing it that way, because honestly I didn't know what the hell I was going to be doing. But after just one session I feel like I understand the basics.

We only had time to load 300 rounds but hopefully we'll get a chance tomorrow to shoot some (or maybe all of them). I'll let you know how it goes. If all goes well I'll be back to load more. Who knows, maybe I'll end up getting a rig together!

All of the components were high quality and it turned out to be about $12.50 a box for .45ACP. Not bad!

 

[bigggbbruce]

Very Good...

I started loading in the early '80s. It was out of necessity. The gun is a Thompson Contender 14" Bull Barrel Pistol in 7mm TCU. A .223 rifle brass necked up to 7mm.

At that time an RCBS Turret was the unit to have (still working today)
I have a Dillon Square deal and find it to do all I need.

Just remember to check, double check.. and look again at all your progress through the stages of loading... 30+ years of savings and custom loads..all good..

The cost to get set up is significant but will pan out and then some...

 

[qballrail]

See that's my problem. The startup cost.

 

[bigggbbruce]

A good start up will be $300-$400

Single stage no bells or whistles.. but you can save as much as $30 on a box of 44 mag. for example.. and you can do rifle on them.. If you are not into competition or just plain lots of shooting it will work for thousands of rounds..

Dillon Square Deal Progressive.. $359-379.. $450 to get a couple of extras.. $600 plus by the time you get a couple of calibers going...

I save that cost many times in a year.. So it's well worth it to me..

 

[richardlpalmer]

See that's my problem. The startup cost.

The setup that I used the other day was a Lee turret press. The guy probably does 10,000+ rounds a week on the machine and has used it for years. But yeah, looks like anywhere from $150-$300 can get you started with one caliber (and that's if you buy brand new equipment).

He recently sold an old press for $40, so deals are out there. Hopefully things will pick up around this joint and more Classifieds will start to happen.

 

[koorbloh]

I got setup for .38sp/.357mag and .30-06 for $250 or less...well setup.


loading is like crafting for men. I wish I had more time to shoot so I'd have a reason to reload more.

 

[hawker]

Glad you got to try it out! It's a nice way to spend some time in the shop, and save money to boot.

 

[richardlpalmer]

Glad you got to try it out! It's a nice way to spend some time in the shop, and save money to boot.

Werd.

 

[richardlpalmer]

Well, finally got to shoot some of this stuff. Fired great! Every one went bang, so no FTF or FTE. Already want to do more.

Oh, and collected brass while we were at the range.

 

[bigggbbruce]

Yep.. Once you start loading all that brass just can't be left behind...

And it's great when you get to the range just as someone fired off a couple hundred of your favorite caliber...and is leaving and when you ask if he reloads and says "no, you can have it." :mfclap: thank you...makes for a good start...

 

[WarriorDriver]

a starting setup is pretty cheap, I have a Lee Classic Turrett Press kit and it was under $200. Ive reloaded everything from .380 to 7mm mag in it. I highly recommend this setup.

On reloading, you did 300 rounds right out of the gate? Was this a load youve used before? Ive read alot of times how someone sat down and did a huge batch, and after the first few shots realized it was bad and had to pull the rest. Just something to think about.

 

[TheRedSkull]

my local range (albany rifle and pistol club) does a reloading class for like 300$ iirc and it includes the loading press and everything, but i just cant swing it right now, besides i shoot mostly 556 and 9mm so it makes less sense for me. but with prices rising it might be coming up in my near future...

 

[richardlpalmer]

a starting setup is pretty cheap, I have a Lee Classic Turrett Press kit and it was under $200. Ive reloaded everything from .380 to 7mm mag in it. I highly recommend this setup.

On reloading, you did 300 rounds right out of the gate? Was this a load youve used before? Ive read alot of times how someone sat down and did a huge batch, and after the first few shots realized it was bad and had to pull the rest. Just something to think about.

This was done with someone supervising my son and I. He did a mini-class on the subject and showed us how each step was done, then had us do it. He showed us how to use the book, how to determine the powder we should use (burn rate), how to find our powder in the book, etc. He basically walked us through each step until we had 6 trays of shells waiting to be completed -- then walked us through the next steps of using the press, checking completed rounds with a caliper for size (and comparing it to the book), etc.

I didn't feel worried about them being poorly made at all. And we've now shot a bunch of them and I loved 'em. Shot great!

I was particularly interested in the rate of burn of different powder and how you'd use them for different rounds, length of barrels, etc. Fascinating! And I had no idea about this stuff. Seems you could really tweak these things (in consideration of your particular weapon) to create some extremely accurate rounds.

 

[WarriorDriver]

Im not saying anything about poorly made, Im just saying a load can be too hot, or simply not accurate. Just trying to help.

Its actually pretty interesting how simply changing powders affects accuracy. Im not happy with a load unless its shooting way under moa, preferably I like the holes to touch. But that takes alot of small batches of loads and time.

 

[richardlpalmer]

I gotcha. Yeah, they ended up shooting great so the assumption that he knew what he was doing worked out well. He asked what we would be shooting it with primarily and what we were looking for, etc. Worked out well.